Stop slicing your drives…FOREVER!!

Are you finally ready to get rid of that nasty slicing banana ball you’ve been hitting out of bounds for years? Good…because there’s no reason you shouldn’t be hitting the ball down the middle every time you step up to the tee. Read on and get your drives squared away asap, and start shooting better scores.

There are many causes for a slice and many types of slices. We will discuss some basic tips and drills that will help you with just about any slice problem. These tips are from the perspective of a right handed golfer, so if you’re a lefty, just reverse everything I’ve said here, or quit playing from the wrong side of the ball and play righty already!

1. Get your club head square: No matter what else you’re doing, one thing is a fact, if you’re slicing, the club head is not square at impact, and it’s causing you to slice the ball. Practice taking 1/2 and 3/4 swings with your driver, concentrating on watching the club head hit the ball with a square face.

2. Get the club on the right path: There are many swing faults that can cause a nasty slice, but the most common reason is an outside to inside swing path. This just means that you’re not bringing the club down to the ball on a path where the club head can naturally square itself. You need to get the club coming from the inside, and it will almost always be a more solid, square contact at impact. To promote this inside swing path, concentrate on keeping your right elbow at your side when you start your down swing. Letting that elbow get away from your side will let the club wander out to that outside path you’re trying to avoid. Try setting a plastic water bottle on the outside of the ball, parallel with your feet. Place it a few inches away from the ball, so a club can contact the ball. This little guide will instantly tell you if you’re coming over the top and hitting the ball on an outside to inside path, because the bottle will go flying. Do this drill until you naturally stop hitting the bottle.

3. You don’t have to kill it: Yeah, we all want to bomb 317 yard drives, but just putting your ball in the fairway should be the main goal, especially if you have a slicing problem. Slow your tempo down and make yourself do a 1-2 count. Count (1) on the way back, and (2) as you start your downswing. All you’re trying to do here is get yourself a rhythm that will stop you from rushing your back and down swing. Trust me…you’ll hit the ball even further with less effort, and you’ll be in the fairway.

4. Get a grip: It doesn’t matter if you use interlocking, overlapping, or 10 finger baseball grip, if you’re grip pressure is too weak or too strong, you’ll have a hard time getting the club face square at impact. I like to use a grip scale of 1-10 and always try to make sure my grip is about a 5-6 on that scale..10 being a strangle hold death grip. Good grip pressure will allow your wrists to properly turn over as you come through the ball, allowing the club face to naturally square, and hit the ball straight. If you’re grip is too weak, the club face will be open and you’ll slice, too strong and you’ll have a tendency to pull hook. Try holding the club more in your fingers than palms and treat it gently.

5. Close your stance: This is more of a band-aid than anything else, but it will help promote getting the club on an inside path. When you’re standing in your normal square stance, move your front foot a few inches closer to the ball. This will keep your lower body from getting ahead of your upper body, which will almost always cause an open club face. This will feel weird, but hit some shots this way to feel the club on the inside path.

Hopefully these basic tips will help you get off the tee better, while keeping the ball in bounds and your own fairway. Obviously seeing a professional is the best way to fix major swing problems, but if you find yourself out on the course and the ball won’t stop going to the left, think of a few of these tips and you’ll get your game back on track. Feel free to email us if you have any questions or comments. admin@tourgolfblog.com. Good luck.

If you ever buy one golf swing instruction book, I swear that this one by Hank Haney will do you more good than 99% of the other books available. Check it out below.

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4 Replies to “Stop slicing your drives…FOREVER!!”

Good post. I used to have a wicked slice, especially on all of my drives. A few other things that helped me were:
1) lowering my right shoulder in address
2) focus on hitting the ball from the inside out (imagine the ball has a clock on it with 12 being towards your target. hit the ball at 7 o’clock.)
3) keeping my weight over the middle of my feet (not towards the toes).

Jonas Crawford

January 18, 2010 at 3:04 am

Careful with suggestion #2. “There are many swing faults that can cause a nasty slice, but the most common reason is an outside to inside swing path…” The golfer swings outside to in because the face is open. If they swing from inside, with an open face, they will hit high/right “wipes” all day. Cannot go to #2, until #1 is fixed.
The Haney book will help with the “plane”, which is the long-term fix.

Great post, very useful. thanks!
I would like to add few more tips:
1.Good players retain wrist-cock through the impact zone, as well as maintain a strong solid base during the hitting area.
2.Allow the angle of the club face, not your body, to generate loft.
3.The bunker shot is not the easiest shot in golf.